Lou Ferrigno Goes Into ‘Incredible Hulk’ Mode To Save Fan At Comic-Con
Lou Ferrigno is the Incredible Hulk both on and off the screen. Ferrigno, who played the title role as in the CBS action-adventure drama from 1978 to 1982, went into superhero mode at the Fanboy Expo Comic-Con in Knoxville, Tennessee, according to USA Today.
After fan Ted McAlister posed for a photo with Ferrigno, the 65-year-old actor noticed he was shaking and having difficulty talking, so he quickly alerted the man’s father who was standing nearby. In a Facebook post about the incident, McAlister’s father revealed that his son was having a seizure and that the Hulk came to his rescue.
Lou Ferrigno told USA Today that he ran to grab hold of his fan before he collapsed. When Ferrigno saw the man begin to fall backward, he made a quick mental checklist of what could be going on and then he cleared the booth where they were standing so the father could sit his son down. Lou Ferrigno then called for EMTs, who responded promptly. But McAlister said the whole time it was the Incredible Hulk who “made sure I had everything I needed.”
“I ran to grab him and make sure he wouldn’t injure himself, and his father immediately said it was a seizure,” Ferrigno told USA Today. “I’m glad he sat down and we got a support on his head and got the paramedics in right away and kept him calm. I told him, ‘Come on back later and take another picture.'”
While Lou Ferrigno is best known as David Banner’s (Bill Bixby) green-skinned alter ego on CBS’ Marvel Comics spinoff The Incredible Hulk, the actor has some real life experience with emergency situations. In addition to his work as an actor and a fitness guru, for more than a decade the former IFBB Mr. America, Mr. Universe, and Mr. Olympia contender volunteered as a sheriff’s deputy. Ferrigno volunteers 20 to 30 hours per month for the Los Angeles and San Luis Obispo county sheriff’s departments. Lou is also deputized in eight other states.
#LASD Reserve Deputy Lou Ferrigno at our training with #Montrose #SAR @LASDHQ @RFBLASD @CVLASD pic.twitter.com/9dFwmEhcsL
— Burton Brink for State Assembly (@LASDBrink) April 27, 2014
In a previous interview with Muscle Development, Lou Ferrigno said he became a sheriff’s deputy because he wanted to give back to the community.
“My father was a police lieutenant and I was always fascinated by law enforcement,” Lou told the fitness magazine. “So I went to the academy and took six months out of my life to complete the program, and it changed my life because I wanted to give back.”
While the McAlister family now thinks of Lou Ferrigno as a real life superhero, it was all in a day’s work for TV’s Hulk.
Still, Lou said he was thankful the emergency happened at his Comic-Con table and not somewhere else.
“I’m glad it happened here because he was at the right place,” Ferrigno said. “If it was a strange environment, like the street, he could have died.”
Lou Ferrigno later posted to Twitter about the incident, saying he was just happy he was able to help the man who is undoubtedly now his biggest fan.
[Featured Image by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images]
